Leading manufacturer WL Gore has had to make no more than a couple of dozen compulsory redundancies globally throughout the recession, despite being heavily exposed to the downturn in consumer electronics.
The global company, which produces electronics, medical and industrial products and fabrics, including the famous ‘Gore-Tex’ jackets, has done so by maintaining its ethos of high employee commitment and development. It has defied the convention of recent years to treat staff as disposable ‘resources’.
In an exclusive interview with the Human Capital Forum, Andy Warrender, a leader of the fabrics division, said: ‘Some of our businesses are thriving at the current moment; others such as consumer markets are generally down. But Terri Kelly, the CEO, has been overwhelmed by a number of people approaching her asking how they can help, by giving up annual profit share. People are volunteering themselves for those kinds of things. It really has been overwhelming to have that commitment. People are owners, and feel like owners.’
This makes a sharp contrast with other companies. At airlines and in many manufacturing companies, managers have had to ask for sacrifices, and have often faced criticism and confrontation from unions.
WL Gore, which often tops ‘best company to work for’ listings, has a clear expectation that managers continually engage directly with staff to explain business changes, and justify them in terms of the founding principles of fairness and staff development.
‘When we interview folks [job applicants] they often say that at their previous company if there was a change of strategy you might get a memo or if you are lucky a phone call,’ said Dr Warrender. ‘That never happens in WL Gore. You always have to get teams together and explain the problems you are trying to solve.’
It has a long-established human capital measure in the form of an annual employee survey.